Antarctic Birds

Most animals living in the frozen wastelands are believed to be descendants of animals that lived there years ago, including birds. They most likely survived by isolating in areas that remained ice-free or where geothermal heat was released from the Earth’s crust.

About 60 species live in Antarctica, but only one of them – the Emperor Penguin – is endemic to the continent and is also the only penguin to breed there. Antarctica has no birds of prey, but skuas are known to prey on the chicks of penguins and other birds. Most of the birds living in the White Continent primarily feed on krill while supplementing the rest of their diets with fish, squid, and crustaceans.

List of Antarctic Birds

Penguins

Adelie Penguin
Chinstrap Penguin
Emperor Penguin
Gentoo Penguin
King Penguin
Macaroni Penguin
Magellanic Penguin
Royal Penguin
Southern Rockhopper Penguin

Seabirds

Antarctic Petrel
Antarctic Prion
Antarctic Shag
Atlantic Petrel
Black-bellied Storm-petrel
Black-browed Albatross
Blue Petrel
Broad-billed Prion
Cape Petrel
Crozet Shag
Fairy Prion
Gray-backed Storm-petrel
Gray-headed Albatross
Gray Petrel
Great Shearwater
Kerguelen Petrel
Light-mantled Albatross
Mottled Petrel
Northern Giant-petrel
Southern Royal Albatross
Salvin’s Albatross
Salvin’s Prion
Short-tailed Shearwater
Slender-billed Prion
Snow Petrel
Soft-plumaged Petrel
Sooty Albatross
Sooty Shearwater
Southern Fulmar
Southern Giant-petrel
South Georgia Diving-petrel
South Georgia Shag
Wandering Albatross
White-capped Albatross
White-chinned Petrel
White-headed Petrel
Wilson’s Storm-petrel

Shorebirds

Antarctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Brown Skua
Cattle Egret
Chilean Skua
Franklin’s Gull
Kelp Gull
Long-tailed Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
Sabine’s Gull
Snowy Sheathbill
South Polar Skua
Upland Sandpiper

Waterfowl

Yellow-billed Pintail

FAQs

1. Which bird migrates from the Arctic to Antarctica?

The Arctic Tern has one of the longest annual migrations of any animal on Earth. Every year, Arctic Terns make a round journey of 18,641 miles from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle to breed before going back again.

2. Are there birding cruises in Antarctica?

Several cruises visit the Antarctic Ice Sheet and multiple smaller islands around it. It is a great way to see Antarctica’s avifauna and other forms of wildlife. Still, it is necessary to verify that these cruises are not harming the pristine environment of the continent as well as not disturbing the animals living there.

3. Did a giant bird live in Antarctica years ago?

Yes, scientists have unearthed a fossil of a pelagornithid, an ancient albatross-like creature that lived 50 million years ago. Paleontologists estimate that it had a wingspan reaching up to 20 feet and, based on its jaw structure, also possessed teeth.